Artwork in the Louisiana Governor's Mansion

Spotted history of Louisiana Governors

The entrance lobby to the Governor's Mansion opens on a beautiful Louisiana setting captured on canvas in an original mural painted by Auseklis Ozols. Depicting scenery from the four corners or the state, this work of art took the artist six months to complete, working only on weekends. Hidden discreetly in the cabin of a shrimp boat, lurks Blaze Starr, stripper, girlfriend of Louisiana's 1950's ungovernable governor Earl K Long brother of Huey Long. The relationship was featured in the Paul Newman movie Blaze. Check out the fishing boat in the mural lifting cargo onboard. Look carefully and you will see the cargo is actually a cleverly painted thermostat. In the second photo you can see the general scope of the murals.

Bourbon Street

A little madness along Bourbon Street after the conclusion of two parades on the last night before Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras.... fortunately we had a res at GW Fins just half a block away which was the most peaceful haven and outstanding fish dining!

Solar system shakedown

Becoming familiar with the solar system, controllers, inverter, converter, battery banks is a learning curve! Four solar panels deliver quite a healthy charge either camped out or driving down the road, even if the sun is not bright! Balancing the drains on the system, excluding resource hungry appliances, switching to propane when appropriate and running the Honda generator to fill the energy holes. After six days off the grid we think we have finally figured most of it out!

Sunrise over the river

Our sixth free night using solar power found us alongside the Pascagoula River in Gautier, Mississippi. Hickory Hill CC's founder greeted us on his golf cart and drove us next door to see his family property while recounting his experiences as a member of his college's national championship football team, his family's roots in the community, and the ravages of hurricanes during his 75 years.

Another very quiet night and we awoke to this view! We're loving the freedom of this new way of traveling, with most of the comforts we've come to cherish in our rolling silver home, and new perspectives on the places we're staying.

Harvest Hosts

Another first: using our Harvest Hosts membership to schedule a free night at one of their thousands of participating country clubs, wineries, farms, or museums.

This one in Spanish Fort, Alabama, provided a quiet night on the opposite side of the parking lot and an excellent breakfast in the full- service dining room of the Timber Creek CC. We could not have asked for a warmer welcome, and it was a treat to see another Airstream pull in at sunset!

Solar Explorations

So much to learn! For our first solar camping experience, we chose 4 nights at Grassy Point, Escribano, FL, a small, reservable, free campsite managed by the Wildlife Management Authority, 20 minutes down this red dirt road. It was just what we'd imagined: peaceful, scenic, plenty of room under the large trees and Spanish moss. A great setting for grilling too!

We continued to run the fridge and water heater on propane. We figured out the coffee maker and milk frother worked well through the inverter but not the microwave. No problem! The Dish receiver picked up both the Oscars and the Six Nations rugby matches. When the sun was out, the batteries stayed charged, then, when rain came, the generator did the job.

Yes, it was the relaxed life we've so enjoyed, experienced in a new way! We'll keep finding new places to stay off the grid!

Alligator sun bathing party

About a dozen alligators lazily sunning themselves in the canal in the Everglades! I'm sure they would come alive in a split second if something tempting was waved in front of their snouts.... these beats are about 8 to 9 ft long and somewhere between 20 and 40 years old. Always worth checking around before you step out of the Airstream first thing in the morning!

Solar conversion

Big day for our Airstream as it is hand towed into Solar Tech's warehouse for the addition of solar panels, golf cart batteries and large 2 kw inverter! About four days of work....

Special tonight!

Every Sunday they fire up the smoker and stuff it full of ribs and chicken for several hours... got there too late twice so tonight I made sure we were early! Aside from that it was SuperBowl night so we got out before the rowdies took over!

Alaska photo gallery

Link to the complete Alaska photo album...

http://www.db26.net/nikon/2018-alaska/

Anniversary!

Our anniversary always comes around when we are in KW and there is a huge choice of restaurants to pick from.... this is Café Solé where we had superb Hogfish fillets over Hollandaise. Much out of character we both had dessert, Zabayon for Margaret in the cocktail glass and a trio for my delight of creme brûlée, mini key lime pie and a pot of berries!

Watching a storm develop....

Even a bad day in Key West is better than.... but today looks a little threatening! Two different weather map views of the same situation, top one is Windy (degrees Celsius) showing direction and strength, the second is Storm Radar.

Fishing in the Florida Straits....

Ocean to plate! Morning fishing run with Emerson off the Marquesas Keys, some 20 miles south-west of Key West, where we caught Hogfish, Atlantic shark, Black tip reef shark, Grunts, Porgies, Yellowtail and Grouper with Captain Josh Collins who did a great job locating fish and skillfully making fillets for us to take home to the Southermost Beach Cafe for our delightful dinner!

Latitudes Lunch

Going for lunch at Latitudes on Sunset Key feels like an airport security check! Your reservation time is based on the ferry shuttle time and woe if you try to come early or late. Identity and number of guests is verified by radio with island security control and you are allowed to board. A peaceful five minute cruise later you arrived at the covered dock and walk ashore to the restaurant which features photos of the life of local legend Ernest Hemingway. Lovely lunch by the large windows as it was too windy and cool to be on the terrace. We had lobster, grouper and shrimp, with chocolate dessert of course. Our truck was comped for four hours of free parking in the hotel parking deck and we needed every minute of it!

Evening light show!

Just to add a little sparkle to our sunset evenings in the Keys we have strung a double chain of red chili pepper lights throughout the Tiki hut and fired up a discrete blue laser moving starfield.... great reflections off our shiny aluminum!

Dinner at Geiger Key

Sunday evening dinner at Geiger Key Marina and Fish Camp.... sitting on the dock of the bay.... far enough away from the band so that we can still talk!

Arrived in Key West

Moved into our new site #17 at Geiger Key, enjoyed yellowtail snapper for dinner, then woke up to sunrise over the inlet. A balmy 74F breeze and a few F-18 jets from the local Naval Air Station got the day going!

Project completed!

Some projects fall outside the realm of tweaks and should really be considered significant upgrades. The drawer unit was a month long project with lots of challenges! We sacrificed 2 feet off our port berth bunk and a small pull out bed and replaced it with a five drawer unit, with 6 cubic feet of storage, purpose designed cabinet. This took us into the realm of cooking rather than camping with an entire 24 x 24 drawer for cutlery and kitchen tools, a complete spice collection with cutting boards and blenders, a drawer of 15 pop-up containers for all the culinary staples, and two spare drawers with books and computers. Topped off with an exotic wood butcher block counter top, it transforms our Airstream function and appearance! More info to follow on this project.....

So much for Privacy!

Margaret and Claudia checking out Tiger Woods private yacht "Privacy" at North Palm Beach, Florida. Tiger's yacht is registered in George Town, Grand Cayman islands in the Caribbean, a well established tax haven. No sign of Tiger or any of his groupies!

Testing new antenna system

Having spotted an excellent idea on the Alaska caravan I ordered a telescopic flagpole and converted the mast to accept two aluminum channels to support the cell phone booster and the wi-if booster antennas. Weboost is giving us an additional two bars above normal cell phone reception! Visiting the splendid Jonathan Dickinson SP near Jupiter Florida.

Titusville Florida

Ah... leaving the north and the first day of warm moist air in Florida is quite unforgettable. Shirts and t-shirts get taken out of storage and sunglasses are needed! Catching up with David and Diana Spahn ( of SW Adventure and Alaska Caravan fame ) in their new house in the The Great Outdoor community dedicated to RV travelers! Every home comes with a 13 ft tall garage to accommodate motor home or trailers!

Welcome to 2019

What a start to the New Year! Margaret's crack of dawn photo from our bedroom on January first! Is this an omen? Red sky in the morning.... Sailor's warning! Usually we start our trek south just after Christmas Day but this year due to an injury we delayed a week. Our reservation at Geiger Key, 1,200 miles away, starts January 8 so time to start rolling! Time enough to visit friends along the way!

Airstream Improvements

Last few days of December and recovering from damaged hamstrings but still a few projects to complete before departure. From top: Black walnut custom made mirror in bathroom; Cup and mug storage in galley; Telescopic flag pole which is really an antenna booster mast; Secondary 30 amp inlet and breaker box to support additional heating systems; Stainless steel water inlet panel replacement.

Joys of Christmas!

Should be joys of the Christmas season as it certainly was not snowing at Christmas! This was taken on December 9 between our return from Alaska and departure for Florida...

Cross country breakfast

The only way to face up to a 1,700 mile across the continent speed run... a Cracker Barrel breakfast experience! Ditch the menu... order a la carte to get exactly what you want!

Flying visit to family!

Margaret's brother Andy (right) and wife Gail live in southern Illinois and that happens to be on our route from South Dakota to Virginia! Wonderful overnight visit, terrific dinner prepared by Gail and onwards we go towards home! Ella at bottom of photo is eagerly awaiting a treat!

A Fine Swine

A detour is always warranted when fine BBQ is spotted somewhere near the itinerary! Somewhere near St Louis we deviated and lunched on smoked brisket and smoked turkey! Always a pleasure to check in on the country gems - you can tell it's a gem when it opens at 11 am and the car park already has 20 empty vehicles lined up! Never disappointed! Bought additional take out of competition rib racks and smoked sausages for treats along the next 1,000 miles of highway! A quick inspection at the rear of the restaurant and the smoker indicates oak and cherry are the woods they smoke with!

Quick lamb chop diner

Split a rack of lamb from Costco into individual chops and grilled them on hickory. From the time we arrived at campground, lit the earthenware Japanese grill, then connected up trailer utilities, settled down in our camp chairs for cocktails, allowed the hickory to go to embers and grilled the lamb till it was ready to eat was a generous hour! Just enough light before the sun sets tonight to be able to see if the lamb is done! Along with steamed asparagus we had a splendid dinner and were ready to slumber! Such an efficient camp site arrival we have developed after three years of training and practice!